Small Gestures
by romanov16
Summary: After dealing with the trouble in Tokyo, Starfire is left to ponder just how much her relationship with Robin has changed...if it changed at all. Robstar.
1. Initiative

"Love isn't some grand gesture, it's a bundle of little gestures that make up the big one" -Anonymous

* * *

"I...I think I was wrong before," he told her slowly, as though he was expecting her to reject him.

...Admittedly it was a fear that could've been well founded: after that little scene he pulled when they were relaxing on the Tokyo building -which had ended with her flying off with tears in her eyes- most girls probably would have given up. Would have said they had enough.

...But most girls hadn't fought at his side for an entire year. Most girls hadn't been in _love_ with him for nearly a year. Where it started, she didn't really know. Perhaps she had always loved him.

It was possible...but no. _Wait._

...Starfire _did_ remember. She had started to love him the moment he came forward to release her from those hand-restraints, all those mouths ago when they first met, despite the inherent danger in approaching a hysterical Tamaranean...X'hal it felt like a lifetime ago...in some ways.

(To her shame, she recalled pointing her starbolts at him. And not the low powered ones either. If Robin had made one ill-judged move...)

She had been so scared then...so very scared. That bone-numbing terror had then undergone an ugly metamorphous, not unlike her Transformation...producing the animalistic rage of a wild beast instead of righteous fury.

And that had led to suffering. Not just for her, but for all the innocent people around her.

(She still winced to recall the damage she did to Jump City Square, and had done her fair part in it's rebuilding.)

But Robin had approached her, seeming unafraid to her glowing gaze.

(He later confessed to her that it had only been a front to calm her down...which only raised her estimate of him. True bravery wasn't the absence of fear: it was the _overcoming_ of it.)

His steps had been easy, measured...one could almost described it as _leisurely._

It had baffled her. It had mesmerized her.

And so had his smile: that tiny, confident twitch of his lips -like the first pecks of a dawning sunrise. Wordlessly offering her a promise: if she put her trust in him, he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her.

(A promised he had faithfully kept, straight up to this rainy Tokyo day.)

 _Are you okay?_

 _I am now_.

...Boundless courage tempered with unimaginable kindness...

She had been a goner from that point onwards. And the fact that he was one of the most striking boys she'd ever known certainty hadn't hurt. Not at _all,_ if she did say so herself.

"Maybe...a hero isn't all that I am," he was stumbling out in a rush, his cheeks reddening a little, despite the chill of the rain.

Now it was her own lips that were twitching, and behind them she thought she heard Beast Boy snort (and Raven's consequence smack).

Poor boy. It never failed to amaze her that her friend could take down monsters and madmen three times his size, and yet be tripping over his own tongue when talking of how he felt for her.

 _Life is a peculiar thing_ , she mused.

"Maybe I could be...maybe _we_ could be..."

Well at this point it would be downright cruel for her to let him continue stammering. Some girls might have done that. She couldn't.

"Robin," she intercepted gently.

He immediately stopped, his masked eyes meeting her own.

"...Starfire?" he inquired, when she said nothing.

She smiled teasingly at him, her expression one of mock exasperation (well _mainly_ mock; because X'hal knew this stubborn boy tired her patience sometimes) which he was intelligent enough to pick up, and meet with a wry grin of his own.

"Stop talking," she told him fondly.

...When he kissed her then, she found that she no longer cared that it was raining, or that her muscles ached from being thrown about that ink monster. Or that their friends were watching.

"Well its about time," she heard Cyborg drawl smugly.

 _No,_ Starfire thought, instinctively turned her head to deepen the kiss. _It's long passed time._

 _..._

Later that night after all the hustle and bustle of turning in Uehara Daizo to the rightful authorities; the Japanese officials were so grateful, they arranged for the exhausted heroes to spend the night recovering in one of their most prominent hotels -all expenses paid.

(Starfire had the feeling they might regret that, when Cyborg gained his rancorous appetite back.)

But for now, they all merely trudge into their rooms, asleep before their heads hit the silken pillows.

Well most of them anyways. Starfire laid awake for a number of reason -one being that her alien biology meant that her energy replenished itself faster than her human friends. The second being that she was turning that kiss around in her head, over and over again.

Sitting on balcony of her suite (the rain had since stopped) with her armor off, she knew that she should be happy. She _was_ happy. It had been a wonderful kiss -sweet and playful and over _far_ to soon. It possessed everything Tamaranean girls wanted from their life-partner, but learned not to expected (well, at least the noble born ones at any rate.)

But something was troubling her...throughout the entire ride to the hotel, Robin hadn't spoken one world to her about their kiss. So she didn't know what they were now...or where their relationship stood. Earthen customs were so utterly different from her homeworld, where a girl's romantic love was split into three stages.

 _Mli'ka_ -Betrothal. _Totaa_ -Marriage. And usually all to soon... _Mortno._ Widowhood. That was it.

They didn't have courtship like here on earth, they didn't have _dating_...

Starfire could honestly say that she preferred the earthen ways...they were confusing, yes, and were certainly not without problems and flaws...but the difference was that they were the problems that came of free will.

Still, she couldn't dismiss _everything_ Tamaranean. If she did, she wouldn't be tip-toeing her way over to Robin's suite, in accordance to a old tradition for uncertain girl, in which she would spent the night in the boy's room -undetected- to judge whether or not she liked him. What happen there would be up to the girl.

...She felt like she had to go. She had to do this...she had to gauge once and for all what he felt for her.

Before anything else happen...

Both she and Robin cared to much about each other to couple for a few weeks, and then call it off. A relationship between them had to be either a hundred percent, or nothing at all.

Opening his door with her key -the hotel people given them ones that work on _all_ the Titans doors- with a silence that had taken _weeks_ to perfect, she slipped inside and quickly closed the door behind her. Then she turned her attention to her friend, and heard her breath leave her in a sudden gust of air.

As she expected, Robin was soundly passed out on the bed; his form laying face down on top of the sheets, arms curled around his pillow. It seem that he hadn't even bothered to change out of his uniform.

Biting her lip Starfire came closer, and she saw that she was only half right -Robin was still wear his leggings and steel-toed boots, but he had removed his tunics and cape and tossed them carelessly to the floor, where they lay in a messy bundle.

 _Well that makes sense,_ she supposed, even as flaming heat rushed to her face. The night _had_ turned rather humid after all.

Taking a few steps back, Starfire bend down and scooped up the discarded garments; folding them neatly before setting them on a nearby chair. Briefly she frowned over the ink that still stained them. Drat. She had been _sure_ she had washed it all away before giving back to her friend in the tea house.

Closing her eyes, Starfire swallowed hard at the memory: of realizing that some cold-blooded fiend had framed the most honest person she'd ever known for murder. (She had learned then that the old rage wasn't entirely gone. If she had gotten her hands on Daizo...)

...Robin had run the gauntlet tonight. And had passed with flying colors. She'd _never_ been more proud of him. And she was sure his father would be as well. She'd have to remind Robin to make contact with him in the morning. (The poor man had the right to know that his son was alright -which was something of a minor miracle, all things considered.)

...But he had also paid the price for his triumph.

Robin's upper body was littered with massive swelling bruises, ranging from mild to moderate. Concern taking over, she studied a particularly nasty one that ran between his shoulder blades. Well, that certainly explained why he wasn't sleeping on his back. Raven would have to help with this.

Sighing now, she floated over and careful sat on the bed besides him; working with quick fingers to unlace his boots. She wanted him to be comfortable.

...They could talk later, she decided. She had waited a year...what was one night?

She had just gotten the first boot off, and was working on the second one when a soft sigh reached her, and the bed sifted; the sleeping boy coming closer to her. She still for a moment and redden, knowing that she had been caught, before gathering her courage and turning to face him.

...It soon became apparent that she wasn't as caught as she first thought. From the way Robin looked at her it was clear that he was mostly asleep, his body language unfocused and sluggish. Burned out in a way that she had rarely seen, and it tugged at her heart.

For a moment he just watch her, observing how the moonlight hit her red tresses, and highlighted them with undertones of gold. She offered a shy smile.

Robin smiled back. "This is a dream." It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact. One of his hands rose to play with her hair, curling the strands around his fingers.

...Starfire found that she didn't have the heart to correct him. Their fight tonight must have taken more out of him than she'd thought.

"Yes this is a dream," she agreed. She wanted to touch his face, but settled for the grasping the hand that was still playing with her hair (sending shivers up and down her spine).

"A _good_ dream," she emphasized, knowing all to well of his trouble with nightmares. Robin might think that he did a good job of hiding it, but Starfire could always tell when he had a bad night.

Robin grinned at her, and even three-quarters asleep it made her stomachs do flip-flops. Allowing her eyes to dart away from him for a moment, she heard him move again, but didn't see his hand gently closing around her wrist. But she _certainly_ felt it tug her over to him, until she was lying by his side.

...She hadn't planned this.

But...

But when one of Robin's arms encircled her waist, and the other her shoulders, she couldn't bring herself disapprove. Especially not when he started kissing her for the second time that night, fingers lightly holding the back of her fiery head.

It was...different from the first one. Less playful. More intimate. It seemed that the reassurance that this was a dream - _his_ dream, where Starfire wouldn't be scared off- had given Robin the confidence to show just how much passion he held for her. Passion that she had always suspect was there.

Passion that...made her want more that just his kiss...so much more.

 _...Someday perhaps,_ she thought. _But not now. Not tonight. We're too young._

Besides, by this point, she was blushing so hard that she was surprised she wasn't glowing. At sixteen Robin was a year her senior, and not quite a man yet. But to judge from the muscles her hands kept brushed against -she keep them in front, trapped between them, afraid that she would hurt him by touching his back- it wouldn't be long before he _was._

Her skin tingled at the thought -though that might've been his thumb that was drawing small circles on her waist.

After a few moments she sensed Robin's responses slowing down as true sleep laid her claim to him, clearly jealous, and unwilling to share him with any other. Well, remember Kitten, Starfire couldn't blame her. She pulled away, and sifted downwards, so that her head rested near his heart, it tempo becoming her lullaby.

Utterly content, she closed her eyes.

Robin's hand still rested on her head, making a dozen little bird nests in her hair.

"...Star," he murmured drowsily. "I love you. Did ya know that?"

 _That_ caused her eyes to snap right back open, the shock shooting through her limbs and nearly paralyzing her. Then it was replaced by a euphoria unlike anything she'd ever experience. It was like mustard, and children's eyes and clear, cloudless, unending blue skies.

 _He loved her._

"Yes I know," she replied (and really she had...she'd always know...it was still good to have it confirmed though). Feeling that her face might brake from smiling too hard, she kissed the base of his throat before settling down again.

"I love you too." she whispered. "Now sleep and hold me close."

"-'alright _Chakano,_ he muttered back, doing as suggested, while the girl he held to him furrowed her brow at the unfamiliar word. _Chakano?_

 _"Chakano?"_ she repeated out load. "What-"

But when she turned her head upward again, she saw that the boy had fallen asleep once more. It would have to wait until morning...that was alright.

Slowly, she laid her head back down, breathed in a deep, fulfilling breath.

 _...Chakano_ , she mused to herself, as she hovered between sleep and awakeness. Whatever it meant, she rather liked the sound it. Especially when it spoken with such... _love_.

Love.

 _He loved her._

The euphoria was back, more glorious than the sun, and Starfire closed her eyes to stop the moisture gathering there. Robin had her heart and her soul. He always had. To know that she had his...it was indescribable.

Hopefully he would be able to tell her that again when he was fully awake.

It had indeed been _long_ past time.

 _finis_

* * *

Chakano is the Romani (gyspy) word for _Star._

 _Reviews make me happy so tell me what you thought!_

 _So all this takes place before Robin and Star show up holding hands in front of all of Tokyo...I'm thinking of writing a second chapter or a sequel to this where Robin wakes up with Starfire in his bed and realizes (to his shock) that it wasn't a dream._

 **Reviews make me happy so tell me what you though.**


	2. Confusion and Confession

Miss Geek: Thanks, I hope you like this next part!

deerspirit: Here's your second chapter, I hope you find this just as fluffy!

r0bstarfan13: I hope this has you blushing even more!

snoopy kid: Here ya go!

Kali Ann: Thank you, I thought so too.

To Everybody That Wanted the Next chapter: Here it is!

* * *

Chapter 2

When the Japanese's morning sun filtered through the curtains that following morning, and shone on his face, Robin woke up feeling more resting than he had in _weeks_. No, it was more than just rested –he felt totally refreshed. And…and _happy_. Really just plain ol' happy. And that threw him somewhat. Where had that feeling come from?

Given that he'd all but passed out before making it to the bed, the rested part was explainable, and the great night sleep that followed passing out could account for the refreshed part –he'd had one hellava nice dream- but the happy?

After _finally_ getting to the bottom of the Daizo Conspiracy, and busting the bad guy behind it, Robin fully expected to feel relived, unburdened and the satisfaction of a job well done…and he did. In spades. But this kind of happy…it had nothing to do with the case. The sixteen year old knew himself well enough to be aware of this fact. This was a _personal_ happiness: the kind you got when you were with family, or friends. The warm, bubby feeling (he immediately thought of Starfire) that filled you from your head to your toes when something amazin' was heading your way.

Frowning in concertation, he rubbed his masked eyes with one hand. Having all the clues in front of you and not being able to piece them together was frustrating as _heck_. What had happened last night-?

Then he remembered. He'd kissed Starfire. And just like that, he went very still.

 _Whoa…_ was all he could think –was all he was _capable_ of thinking. Holy _…holy hell._

No wonder he'd dreamt of her last night.

That _kiss_ …looking back on it Robin didn't have the slightest idea as to where he'd pulled the courage it taken to make the speech he had –and even then it had been a absolute train wreak. He cringed just thinking about it.

...But Star had managed to see through the tangle web of words, and into the heart of what he was trying to say –the way she'd always seemed too; with an ease that never failed to astonished him. She had the uncanny ability to decipher his emotions into a understandable format, even when he couldn't.

And she had accepted what he'd offered her –even though he had made her cry over the very same subject matter not 48 hours ago.

But at that moment, Starfire had been smiling; and not in her usual, all-out manner that could knock a guy sideways if he wasn't careful. It had been softer, gentler –demurred almost, in the way girls usually weren't- but with just the right touch of playfulness that it set his mind on fire, and gave him the confident to throw caution to the wind, and take that smile -and her kiss- for his own.

And boy, it had been a kiss to remember. He turned red just thinking about it.

 _Weeell it's about time_ \- Cyborg's voice repeated in the boy's head, and Robin snort to himself. Yeah, no kiddin'. He should've done that months ago. He _could've_ done it months ago. There had been a least a dozen little moments.

He'd seen that subtler side of Star's personality before –little glimpses here and there over the past year, that always left him longing to see more of it, of her quiet core of inner strength, and simple wisdom that guided her unshakable beliefs on what was right, and what was wrong.

(In a world filled with so much gray –and getting fuller each day- it was nice to know someone who, while faulted like every mortal, still held fast to her principles).

But what was done was done. And while he could kick himself over it as much as he wanted, it didn't solve the pressing question: Where did they go from here?

...Robin could admit that he hadn't been very clear on the matter, due to his tongue-tiedness. He had been in dopy, shell-shock like state after the adrenaline of the kiss ran out, and had done what came instinctively: retreat into himself. Star was probably confused, perceiving his actions and following silence as mixed signals.

He'd have to set her straight on that.

 _Well whatever we're going to do, I'm not going to figure it out lying here,_ Robin thought determinedly. Time to get up.

But when he propped himself up on his elbow, Robin froze as a soft murmur of protest reached his ears.

What the-? Muscles tensing out of sheer reflex, the Teen Wonder glared downwards...and nearly fell over in shock.

Curled up on herself like a puppy near the end of the bed -her head paralleled to his stomach- was-

" _Starfire?!"_

* * *

The stunned cry jolted the alien girl out of her sleeping state with a shock, green eyes flying open as she bolted upright, lookin' for all the world like the kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. The look on her face was just as comically stunned as his was, if not more so.

For a moment they just stared at each other, unable to form, let alone say, a single intelligent word to one another. Robin's mouth had malfunctioned, and he unashamedly gaped at her like a goldfish.

...Star was the first to pull herself together. She cleared her throat. "Uh...greetings Robin," she said in an almost formal sorta manner, her hands coming up to push some strands of her hair behind her ears, before folding them on her lap, palms ups. "How are you this glorious morning?"

He couldn't answer her rightaway. His mind was preoccupied.

...She...she wasn't wearing her armor. That was the first thing his brain was able to processed. For the first time, Robin could see the entirety of Starfire's hands, the slenderness of her wrists -he could see swirls of purple veins running in patterns over them, that were actually somewhat similar to humans; pumping her life-blood upwards through her body to fuel the flush in her cheeks, and also spreading _down_ wards into the hallow of her exposed throat, the delicateness of her collarbone...

He quickly brought his eyes back to her face.

With her armor off, sheepish expression, and flaming hair tousled (despite her efforts to tame it), Star looked more like an ordinary teenager than in all that the time he'd known her.

A million dollar, potential Miss Universe ordinary-sorta-teenager, but still.

"...Star..." he said when he at last recovered the ability to speak. "Why...what...what _are you doing here?"_

That flush darkened, and her fingers began to fiddled with themselves.

"Well, I...I...I had come in last night to check on you," she finally said, and even while gobsmaked, Robin could tell that she was choosing every word with utmost care.

"I picked up, and folded your clothing," here she gestured with a tilt of her head to a chair over by the window -and low and behold, there his tunics lay.

(The realization that he was half naked _sooo_ didn't help him any.)

"And I started to remove your boots-"

Despite his embarrassment, Robin couldn't help but smile. This was classic Starfire. If he lived to be a hundred years old, he would never understand why she had chosen him of all people to gift with the complete and utter loyalty she had given him. A loyalty, a _fluent understanding_ , that had long ago surpassed the limits of friendship. Family came closer to defining what they were...but that still didn't complete the picture.

(Deep down, he knew what it was...and he had know it for a while.)

But what Star said next wiped his smile clean off his face.

"But I only removed one because you woke up -somewhat- and..." she adverted her eyes bashfully, her smile becoming embarrassed. She giggled a bit. "-tugged me down next to you. You thought it was a dream-"

"I _what?!"_ he yelped, making her jump a little in surprise. Blood thundered in his ears as he processed what he had just been informed of. Last night...last night had been a blur of dull pain, total exhaustion, and hazy dreams that made little to no sense. So when he had opened his eyes to find Star in his room, on his bed...he hadn't questioned it, or the choices he made regarding it.

 _Oh no._

One of Robin's hand immediately clenched around the silky white bed covers, while his other one gripped his ebony hair. He could barely look at her.

"God Star, I'm sorry," he immediately apologized.

* * *

Starfire stared at him as if he had grown a second head.

"' _Sorry?'"_ she repeated, her face incredulous. "Robin, what in X'hal's name are you-"

But then realization struck her, he could tell it did, and her brows instantly drew together in a fierce expression.

"Robin," she told him firmly, in a tone that allowed no compromised. "You have absolutely no reason to be full of the sorry. You did nothing wrong. _Nothing."_

Robin released a low breath and shook his head. Starfire was always so darn trusting...and while that was a wonderful thing about her, it had given him plenty of sleepless hours during nights where he would lie awake worrying about his team (in addition to Raven's isolation, Beast Boy's cockiness, and Cyborg's temper), worrying that she would one day be taken advantaged of by the wrong people.

He'd never thought he'd have to worry about her around him. He'd always trusted himself.

"Star, I still shouldn't have-"

He never finished that sentence, because at that moment, Starfire lean over, and brushed her lips against the corner of his mouth in a feather-like kiss. It was over in half a second, but that half a second was long enough.

She now had his full, and undivided attention.

" _Robin,"_ she said in soft admonishment. Some of the fierceness had drained from her face, and replacing it was the gentle warmth of a steadfast candle, flickering and playful.

" _You_ may have been half asleep, but _I_ was fully awake...and I stayed. What does that tell you?" here the warrior girl arched an eyebrow, and smiled teasingly. "Think carefully."

Think carefully? At this point, Robin could hardly think _at all_. He just stared at her, memorized as that smile widened to show all her teeth.

"I...I like it," she confessed, grinning like crazy, and blushing to the roots of her hair. "I had been waiting for that to happen...for longer than you think."

Then her face soften again. Reaching out, Starfire laid a hand against his cheek. He let her.

"And if I hadn't like it, and I asked you to let me go...can you honestly say to me that you wouldn't have? Even in a dream?"

Well that was a no brainer.

"...Of course I would have," he replied in a quiet voice.

Beaming now with a hint of tears in her eyes, Starfire lean forward again, and this time rested her forehead against his own, in a gestured that was somehow just as intimate as the kisses they had shared. If not more so.

"Then that is all that matters," Star told him as she pulled away. "That's all you need concern yourself with."

"...Yeah...yeah your right," Robin finally said after a moment. He flashed her a little grin. "I guess I can be kinda stupid sometimes huh?"

Playing along, Starfire clucked her tongue at the question, titling her head in an exaggerated manner...but her gaze turned genuinely thoughtful. "No...she said softly. "Just overly righteous."

Robin snorted at that and moved himself to a more comfortable position, his legs crossed at the ankles. Suddenly, having Starfire here seem as natural as anything.

"Believe me, I know," he said in a tone dry enough to make a certain butler proud.

"But it is not a bad thing Robin," Starfire assured him. "If even a third the world held themselves to the standards you do, half of the problems would be gone -it...it is one of the things I love most about you."

And just like that, the relaxed atmosphere popped like soap bubbles. And both of them felt it. What had always been unsaid between them had risen to the surface, and was peeking over their shoulders.

Robin swallowed hard as heat crawled up his face and through his shoulder blades. Starfire's blush deepened, to the point where she was almost glowing, but she didn't look always again, she held his gaze steady.

She'd always been braver than him.

"Robin," she began plainly. "...you did more than merely kiss me last night...you spoke to me too."

Here she stopped, and waited for him to reply.

"Yeah I did," the boy said. Alright so it wasn't exactly Shakespeare, but it was a miracle he even got that out.

Starfire took a slow breath. "You said you loved me," she said quietly.

This time his reply was slower. "Yeah I did," he repeated. (Hey, give him a brake).

Star's startling eyes searched his face. " _Do_ you?"

This time, he didn't hesitant.

"Yeah," he told her, grinning as if he'd gotten a face full of Joker gas. And it felt so, _so_ good to finally say it out loud. "Yeah I do."

Okay, it wasn't Shakespeare. But judging from the way Starfire's face lit up like the fourth of July, that was perfectly alright with her.

* * *

Reviews make me happy so tell me what you thought.

Okay people here is that second chapter! Hope you liked it...and man, this was my first attempt to get deep in a boy's head about how he feels about a girl. It's hard! Did it sound authentic to you? And I hope I got Robin and Star's personality's down, and they way they play off each other. They are such a fun couple -if only D.C could gets it sh*t together and see that.

I'm thinking about bringing this home with one last chapter.


End file.
